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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742438">The Auric Collar</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_Dragon/pseuds/Ace_Dragon'>Ace_Dragon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, White Collar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aiden O'Conner - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Apple of Eden, Asexual Character, Assassins, Assassins Creed Crossover, Bisexual Character, Crime Scene, F/M, M/M, Multi, Pieces of Eden, Templars, Trans Character, White Collar - Freeform, White Collar crossover, louis victor, stolen art</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:13:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,531</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742438</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_Dragon/pseuds/Ace_Dragon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal Caffery gets one of the most puzzling mysterious yet, a recently purchased Artifact called "The Apple Of Eden" has gone missing from Mr. Bostiers private collection. The more he uncovers about the history of this Artifact the more there seems to be, who is behind the thievery and why is there so much interest in this ball of metal? </p><p>Determined to return the Artifact to its owner and find the one responsible Neal and Peter end up uncovering a secret war that's been going on for centuries. And Neal gets caught in the middle of it, oops.</p><p>Aka the White Collar and Assassins Creed AU Crossover that no one asked for. ;)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey/Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue - David's Demise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was a cold night like many cold nights in New York City, a tall intimidating complex of buildings hidden behind a white marbled decorated stone wall that surrounded an area of a few miles. The buildings nestled in the crook of the mountain were of equal beauty and decoration, not sparing anything to show the true value of their owner. It was a complex of three main buildings with three additional storage sheds scattered across the inside of the walled-off area. Nice pebble laid walkways, flowers blooming all around despite the approaching fall and security of various kinds patrolling its perimeter. It was dark, with only the street lamps to light the way, the moon was at its peak, it was 3 am the darkest time of the night. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The sound of black leather boots walking slowly along a tiled floor, the owner of the boots was an older gentleman. He wore a raincoat with the words marked SECURITY on the back in bright white letters. Black cargo pants, pistol holster, pepper spray, and taser were a few of the weapons he was equipped with. He had short brown hair graying a little at the sides and eyes of a bright amber hue, recently cleanly shaven. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> His name was David, and David was a security guard for the great and famous businessman known as Clark Bostier, David always felt that he gave the job his all even as the years passed. He was loyal and Clark respected loyalty, having been doing the job for over 15 years now at the age of 35 David was far from lazy. He made a note of keeping in shape so he could do his best for his boss, mostly though it wasn’t needed. It was more for show if anything, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I mean really who was stupid enough to try and steal from Clark Boistier? </span>
  </em>
  <span>The security system was one of the most advanced a rich civilian could own, cameras, motion sensors, alarms on every case every locked door every inch was covered. It was suicide not the mention with the money that Mr. Bostier had he could get everyone’s eyes looking around for the thief. It would be silly to try, but sometimes, people did try. And that’s why David was here. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> The job wasn’t the most exciting but it paid well and put food on the table for David's wife and two kids. He smiled remembering the two little boys he had, Rhydian and Matthew were a handful. Matthew was more adventurous and often dragging the more shy Rhydian off to meet new people, explore new places, and get into trouble when they wandered too far. He didn’t get to see them as much as he liked but he always made time on his off days to go outside and play with his boys. David hoped one day his boys would understand why Daddy was always away so much. Luckily his job wasn’t too dangerous, not like being one of those cops who had to risk their lives every day. No, only sometimes when some idiot tried to break in or some drunk teenager got too brave. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> But sometimes there was a little excitement.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> Tonight was one of those nights, it started boring and dull as usual. With David making his rounds down tiled halls, glancing at the expensive art hanging on the wall. Honestly, David never understood the appreciation for old art, he swore one of these paintings looked like someone had taken paint and thrown it about yet it was worth well over three hundred thousand dollars? Psh, artists, David would never get it but he didn’t have too, he just needed to make sure that it stayed on the wall where it belonged. He kept walking passing by roped off cases of glass holding years old parchments and artifacts that probably belonged in a museum and not here on Mr. Bostier’s private property. The lights were out but only a few here and there to light up the frames and cases, David had a flashlight he used to make sure all was well. His trusty flashlight, he named it Joe. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> “Looks clear to me Joe lets go check on Mr. Bostier’s most recent addition huh?” He spoke aloud to Joe, a man had to keep himself company somehow in these dark lonely nights after all. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The newest addition to Mr. Bositer’s collection was quite the sight, he even built an entirely new room just for the artifact. It was octagon in shape with tall pillars in each point of the shapes reaching up to the roof where a multi-panned window sat in the center. Casting the rectangular glass casing in the moon’s glow, the casing sat on top of a small platform in the center of the room. Surrounded by the black railing and numerous invisible motion detectors. The glass would shatter and call the police and Mr. Bositer’s guard as soon as it was broken or shattered. David stood in the entrance-way into the room, even the frame around the entrance was fancy- a golden tan hue marked with intricate gold designs. The whole room felt like something out of ancient Egypt brought back to life.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> Sandy colored tiles, pillars, designs painted on the entranceway, around the windows, and on the platform where the glass casing stood. But it was impossible not to have one’s eye drawn to the piece that sat on a pedestal inside said glass casing. He took a few steps closer, shining his light on it, not that it was needed since there was a small golden light that shined up from the pedestal inside the casing. The piece was about the size of a small ball, a bit smaller than a basketball small enough to grab with one hand but any bigger and it’d be too big. On the artifact were various lines and shapes, some were thinner and faded while others had a strange glow about them. It looked old, its surface long since it is worn and smoothed over by thousands of years of use. It was used by some guy called Altair Ibn-La'Ahadin in AD 1191 and buried with him in his death in AD 1257 in some place called Masyaf in the Middle East, it was found with his body traded hands a bunch of times before coming into the collection of Mr. Boister. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> Honestly, David didn’t understand what was so special about this ball what did they call it? </span>
  <em>
    <span>The Apple Of Eden? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Psh, what a weird name. Granted it was interesting how something made of </span>
  <em>
    <span>metal</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>glowed </span>
  </em>
  <span>was made way back when. But still, that's all it ever seems to do. Otherwise, it was just a ball, not even a painting, not even useful unless you wanted to use it as a torch. He had heard rumors about how Mr. Bostier got ahold of it, most of it sounded like far-fetched stories. Apparently, it was first stolen by some guy called Desmond, some kid who died months later by unknown causes. How Mr. Bostier got it after that no one seemed to know, some say he brought it on the black market some say he paid some treasure hunter to get it. All David knew was that he brought it somewhere and treasured it greatly out of the rest of his collection.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he was never the artist type anyway, who was he to judge really? A glance around the room with Joe told him all was clear, so he turned to leave. David made it a few steps into the main hallway before he heard a noise from that room he had just left, a soft sound but something done by a human. A soft, quiet, click of metal against metal. No rat or animal did that, granted perhaps he was hearing things in his age. But David didn’t think he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> old. So he paused and tilted his head slightly to listen, silence filled his ears all he could hear was the quiet pounding of his own heart. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> Hm.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> David adjusted his security hat, turning off his flashlight while his other hand rested gently on the handle of his CCP Pistol nestled into the space created by his leather pistol holster on his belt. He was trained to only shoot when necessary of course, but often making them aware that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>would</span>
  </em>
  <span> shoot if he had too was enough to deter most thieves from trying anything too violent. Slowly he stepped back towards the room, placing his black boots down heel to toe to make as little noise as possible. Eventually, the security guard came in sight of The Apple of Eden – or just The Apple for simplicity sake. Except, he didn’t because </span>
  <em>
    <span>it wasn’t there.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He stood there in the entranceway blinking dumbly. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>What?!</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> Everything was as he had left it, except looking inside the glass casing he didn’t see any Apple. “Oh shit, it was just there a second ago!” He felt anger grab a hold of him, and fear but David buried that fear under anger as he ran up to the case. “How, it hasn’t even been more than five minutes!” Without thinking he went to disable the security around the case. Rushing to the side of the room and prying open a hidden panel with his fingernails, scanning the buttons as he disables each one. “Shit shit shit-” And it was then that he heard a noise, a rustle of clothing-</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> A heavyweight landed atop his shoulders forcing David to the ground with a gasp. His knee hit the tile so hard he was pretty sure he cracked it if the sickening sound that echoed in the empty room was any sign. Followed by something sharp and painful being stabbed into his upper back, pain shoots all across his body. There were but a few seconds of clarity. David turned his head to look up into the dark eyes of his killer. The man who stood atop him had quite a pale complexion, short curly hair, strong sharp masculine features. And a look of a killer in his eyes he looked almost amused. He wore a long trench coat with long split tails, his voice had a thick french accent.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> “What is it the Assassin’s are saying now? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rest in peace?</span>
  </em>
  <span> I’m sorry my dear but you got in my way.” In his right hand, he held the priceless artifact, The Apple of Eden. It glowed softly, David tried to speak but all that came out was a gurgle of blood. The man laughed mechanically, he was crouched down on David’s spine leather boots digging into his back, the killer’s right hand was covered in wrappings of some kinda with a leather glove breaking up the pattern. A blue dress shirt peeked out from under his coat, belts across his chest and waist, and… a feather behind his ear? </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> “W...who….are...y-you?” He wasn’t sure the man even understood his words blood spilling out from between his teeth spilling down his lips pooling from under his chest and choking him out. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> “Louis my dear man, the name is Louis.” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> Louis...David he found his thoughts fading but wondered what the feather could be for… he wondered… if his boys would understand… would they understand why Daddy died? Would they know how much Daddy loved them? Would they… there’s a glow... he watched that glow as it slowly dimmed into….</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>darkness. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span> That night The Apple of Eden was stolen from Mr. Bostier’s personal collection, a security guard was left dead on that night with only a small blue jay feather resting on his back dipped in the blood of David’s wounds. A symbol? A sign? Or merely left to mock whoever was assigned to the case? Or...a message perhaps? And now there is but one man who holds The Apple in his grasp. Louis.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>But...who is Louis? </span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter One - A Conspircy Or A Legend?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Not much to say here except that more about the Pieces of Eden and how the Assassin's will fit into this story will be explained as time goes on. I want the readers to discover the mystery as Neal does so don't feel bad if your a little confused about some parts. :)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Neal’s black shoes hit the smooth texture of the white laid out pebbles that formed the sidewalk, the nice </span>
  <em>
    <span>obviously</span>
  </em>
  <span> expensive sidewalk. That wasn’t any surprise to Neal, no, he expected the place to be nice if the man could afford to waste thousands of dollars on ancient art. But the sheer</span>
  <em>
    <span> vastness</span>
  </em>
  <span> of the complex was a bit surprising to him, it was well hidden by the mountains that surrounded this area. Still, Neal thought he would have at least </span>
  <em>
    <span>heard</span>
  </em>
  <span> of a place this fancy out here. There he stood, black fedora with an equally black vest and slacks broken up only by his light gray button-up. Fancy as ever, such was his way he adjusted the brim of his hat while waiting for the sound of his partner climbing out of the driver's side. Soon, the taller man, Peter Burke, or </span>
  <em>
    <span>Agent Peter Burke </span>
  </em>
  <span>as he often liked to remind the Ex-Criminal – stood next to him on the white pebble sidewalk. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> No one said anything for a moment, Neal didn’t feel the need to stop the silence it wasn’t awkward. Perhaps unusual for them yes, but not awkward. He was too busy admiring the view of the well-designed building, it was almost a piece of art in of itself. Beautiful designs carved into the corners, pillars sat in front of the overhang where the golden-colored double doors sat waiting for them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A camera was hidden in the shadow of the archway. The tall structure seemed to loom over them, was multiple stories and each window was as beautiful as the next. Finally, the silence was broken by a long whistle Neal let out as he strolled up to the double doors throwing his hat up only for Peter to catch it with a less than impressed look. The look read ‘this is serious’ as if it would curb the playful personality such as Neal Caffery. Tossing the hat carelessly aside and making Neal scramble to catch it before the expensive fedora touched the ground. The Ex-Criminal wanted to say </span>
  <em>
    <span>Peter you should know better.</span>
  </em>
  <span> But he held his tongue instead to waggle his eyebrows at the older man. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fancy place</span>
  </em>
  <span> Peter, why if I didn’t know better I’d say this is a vacation, why are we here again?” He asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> The FBI Agent sighed shaking his head, “don’t get too comfortable with those paintings” he warned waving a finger at Neal. As soon as they stepped onto the smooth silky carpet and into the light cream-colored hallway they were swarmed with police officers and agents all around. It was obvious there was a crime that happened here, but Neal didn’t see a body yet. Figures no one would kill someone in the front door though. “We’re here to figure out who would steal this- what? Apple? Whatever its called, who, why, and how do we get it back.” He said waving his hand dismissively. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “They stole an Apple?” Neal asked with doubt, but he was only half-listening as he noticed a particular painting and ran up to admire it. “Ah, this is-! Yes, the original too...” He smiled, leaning in as close as he could to admire the painting. “Every brushstroke had a purpose and a place...” the curly-haired man murmured under his breath, as if afraid to speak up in the presence of this painting. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Mr. Caffery you can look but </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t touch</span>
  </em>
  <span> if I find that painting missing next, I will make sure you go back to jail for </span>
  <em>
    <span>good.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Came a rough voice from behind him, Neal swung around with his most </span>
  <em>
    <span>innocent</span>
  </em>
  <span> smile. Offering his hand to shake to the older gentleman. Mr. Bostier himself, dressed in a black button-up with a yellow tie and light gray slacks. He eyed Neal’s hand as if inspecting it for a trick before taking it in his own and shaking it. He leaned close, close enough to feel his breath on the younger man’s face. “I know who you are, and don’t think that I won’t be watching you. </span>
  <em>
    <span>One mistake</span>
  </em>
  <span> and I’ll have you gone forever, money can buy almost anything these days Mr. Caffery.” He growled under his breath, Neal could see Peter hovering over the man’s shoulder nervously. A look of ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Are you OK?’</span>
  </em>
  <span> on his face he couldn’t hear what was being said, probably better he didn’t. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> He nodded both to Mr. Bostier and Peter alike, “Understood Mr. Bostier I assure you we will do everything we can to return your Apple to you.” He said, “How did you acquire the piece?” He asked curiously feeling the blood return to his fingers when the older gentleman finally released his hand. Geez, the man didn’t like him, though he supposed he couldn’t blame him. Considering Neal had a… history of </span>
  <em>
    <span>art thievery </span>
  </em>
  <span>but that was also what made him so good at finding other art thieves. Peter stepped forward standing to the side but close enough that Neal could practically feel the man bristling. It was almost cute how protective the man could be over Neal, cute in a platonic way, like an older brother. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “A good friend of mine knows my great interest in the Artifacts, the Pieces of Eden they were called. Supposedly ‘supernatural’ in nature, like the Ark Of The Covenant, false claims of course they are nothing but very ancient art. Still, there is so much history behind them, they have passed hand so many times finally for one of them- The Apple Of Eden - to come to rest here in my collection. “ The Man smiled motioning all around them at the beautiful expensive art hanging on the walls. Other artifacts held inside glasses cases, it was an impressive collection for sure. Neal wondered how this man had passed under his radar during his criminal years… He would have to look into that sometime. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Peter cut right to the chase obviously bored with the man’s over-detailed explanation, “can you show us where the Artifact was that was taken?” The Agent asked, tilting his head slightly hands in his pocket. He had that look on his face, the one that made him look casual but focused. He may have looked bored but he was carefully watching the man. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Mr. Boister nodded “Of course this way gentleman.” He said turning and leading them down a series of hallways until they came to the decent-sized room. In the center where the glass case sat atop a small platform, obviously where this apple </span>
  <em>
    <span>was supposed</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be. Was empty. Behind it to the right side laid a body covered over by a sheet, but the pool of blood that led to it was visible in the red-stained carpet. Neal frowned looking at the body before turning his eyes to the case and the windows above it. Mr. Bostier turned to the two men, “I’m going to leave my Chief of Security with you two to answer all the questions I’m sure you have. I have other matters to attend too, thank you for your time.” With that he was gone, leaving the supposed Chief of Security with them. There was an exchange of names and introductions, explanations. But finally, they got to the part Neal was most interested in. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “How did the thief get in?” The ex-criminal asked, glancing </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sam</span>
  </em>
  <span> up and down. The man was tall, fit, and wore a light blue jacket with the words SECURITY written on the back. Short black hair that curled at the ends, he had his hands on his hips eyes looking at the covered-up body of his friend. “Not sure, the camera’s were having issues… that's what first alerted us, but we didn’t know where he was coming from. Not until it was too late, my guess is he came from above but who would be able to scale the side of the building without us noticing? A ladder, a rope, we’d surely notice that we have patrols that go all around this building and no one saw anything.” By the sad look the man had, Neal guessed him and this David that was killed were friends. Poor guy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Sure he didn’t pay anyone off?” Neal asked with a raised eyebrow, that's what </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> would have done after all. He walked around the glass casing as he asked. Sam watched him but remained where he was standing back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “I’m sure, none of my men would betray Mr. Bostier.” Neal had to bite his tongue to keep himself from snorting. Almost anyone could be brought for the right price, he’d know, having paid off many a security guard or cop during his criminal years. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But before he could speak his mind Peter spoke up, “I’m sure they wouldn’t, so if we wanted to speak to some of your men it shouldn’t be a problem right?” He said with an expression that read </span>
  <em>
    <span>you better not deny this.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The man seemed to squirm under the White Collar Agent’s hard gaze, frowning. “Yes of course,” he finally replied with a barely concealed anger, teeth grinding against each other. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sir! Sir!” A young woman with short fluffy hair can be running up, with a data drive in hand. “We managed to get one of the camera’s video feeds up, and we got a shot of the intruder.” She said with perhaps a little too much excitement considering the situation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Care to see gentlemen?” Sam asked Neal and Peter both nodded eagerly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> <br/>
------------<br/>
</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> That's what led to them sitting back at the Headquarters, watching the video again for the hundredth time, trying to glean everything they could. Even as the lights were dimmed, and the night was coming in from the windows only the light of the New York streets and the dimmed office lights illuminating them. Neal with his shoes sitting on the table leaning back in his seat hat thrown onto the middle of the table watching the video feed play and loop over and over again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> It was the only video they had with this guy </span>
  <em>
    <span>on camera, </span>
  </em>
  <span>out of well over 100 camera’s and this was the only one. Why this one? Did someone this good make a mistake like that? He couldn’t help but feel like this guy was just showing off. He first appeared on camera when he fell </span>
  <em>
    <span>from above somewhere</span>
  </em>
  <span> onto David, a blade ejected out from under the man’s left wrist. A closer inspection showed some kind of glove or bracer was on under his coat. It was sturdy and effective, the man was larger and bulkier then the Security Agent and the sound of bone breaking was not a good sign, then again neither was the blade going through David’s heart. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> This guy knew how to kill and how to do it effectively, </span>
  <em>
    <span>but why show them that? Why reveal his cards?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Neal wondered, pulling on his imaginary beard as he watched the video play. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> And then the man spoke, the camera didn't have audio so all they had to go off of it was lip-reading. Luckily lip reading was something Neal could do, “Louis his name is Louis.” He said tapping a pen he had snitched from Jone's desk on his way up to the conference room against the table. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> “It doesn’t make sense Peter,” he said shaking his head watching the FBI Agent pace back and forth hard at the thought. They had a meeting earlier where they laid out all the information they knew, Neal had done a lot of research on these “Pieces of Eden” and Jones had brought up every suspect they had that could fit this criterion. An art thief, and someone with skills at stealth and assassination? That list was small, very small, and none were currently in New York as far as they knew. Not even Neal could think of any of his old contacts that would do this, but he asked Mozzie his long time friend to ask around some of his…. Old colleagues to see what he could learn. Mozzie was by all means, technically, a criminal but he was never caught and always willing to step in and help Neal where he could. They were practically attached at the hip. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Neal was currently living the rest of his sentence out by helping the FBI catch criminals like him, but Peter decided to overlook how Neal got some of his information, more often then not it was in a </span>
  <em>
    <span>slightly less than law-abiding</span>
  </em>
  <span> way but it worked out for the better between them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> Neal hummed, and threw his fedora across the table, “I think we’re looking at this all wrong.” He finally said pausing the video with the remote on the moment where they can see part of this man’s face. Not enough though, the man was standing over the Security Guard, David, blood dripping off the blade that had been embedded into the man’s back. There was a hood that had a ‘beak’ like structure to it and cast a shadow over the man’s face, all they could make out was his lips, broad chin, and thick beard. Not an untamed beard by any means but thick nevertheless, with some graying strands mixed in, he was handsome an older gentleman likely. Bulky, the muscles under those arms could probably snap someone's neck in seconds. A single curly strand of hair could be seen peeking out from under his hood. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Peter sighed, pulling out one of the empty chairs and sitting down in it with a quiet plop. “Are we?” He asked rubbing his face, “you tell me Mr. Ex Con Artist, what are we looking at?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Neal smiled a sly smile, as he adjusted his tie. “I don’t think this is our seller, I think someone hired this guy to do his dirty work for him.” He explained, “that's why we can’t find anyone that fits this description and has a history of stealing art – he was hired to do the work. He probably doesn’t have much history in stealing art nor cares about it. What we need to do is look for murders, assassins, hired guns, that type of deal. I doubt this guy even cares about this thing, why would someone with this kind of skill be stealing age-old art?” Neal asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Cause he wants to get rich isn’t that why you did it?” The FBI agent retorted back with a raised eyebrows hands collapsed on his stomach as he leaned back in the seat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “You think people learn the best ways to assassinate someone just to steal art?” Neal asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Okay you got me there, we can start narrowing down our search at least. But that’s still a long list Neal, how to do we get to him? To the seller?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “We get to him through this guy, and we get to this guy by tempting the one holding his leash.” The shorter man said with a smug smirk as if he had just come up with the best plan ever.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Peter snorted at that, “sounds like we’re talking in circles here. What are we going to do? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Make a fake one?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He said it jokingly, but as soon as he did the FBI Agent realized how dumb that statement was. When he was sitting across from one of the best forgers in the country. His amused expression slowly shifted into one of surpise as Neal grinned across from him like a Cheshire cat.<br/>
<br/>
“Neal </span>
  <strong>
    <em>
      <span>no</span>
    </em>
  </strong>
  <span><strong>.</strong>”<br/>
</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “You think I can only make forgeries of paintings Peter? “ He slapped a hand over his chest with a fake expression of being hurt. “I’m hurt, Peter! You should know me better by now, look at this.” He pulled over a folder that was messily laid on the table to his right and slid it towards his handler. Pulling out some photos, “The Pieces of Eden are not just one but <em>a set</em> of different objects made by the same group of people… some think they were aliens but, that’s nothing by theory. They all have certain characteristics, but they come in different kinds of shapes and sizes. Apparently, there was more than one Apple of Eden so… theoretically, we could…. Make a fake Apple and lure our little...assassin murder buddy in with it. If we get him, we can get to his seller. Make sense?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Why would he return to the scene of the crime though?” Peter asked disbelievingly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Because it won’t be the same scene, we find somewhere else to set it up, heck open a fake museum for a week. You telling me the FBI has never done anything like that before?” The shorter man gave him a look with a raised eyebrow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “A whole Museum really? Neal, you're asking for a lot here,” Peter said with disbelief. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Would you rather we lead are killer right into a </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> museum?” He asked, “cause I mean I’m all up for it but if something gets stolen </span>
  <em>
    <span>for real</span>
  </em>
  <span>? It </span>
  <em>
    <span>wasn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> me okay?” He said throwing his hands up, they both were tired and exhausted. “I mean if you guys don’t wanna do it I can pull a few strings-</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Peter sighed, “write me up a plan Neal and… and we’ll see. No promises. And you are </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> getting your friend Mozzie to go buy you a </span>
  <em>
    <span><strong>Museum</strong>. </span>
  </em>
  <span>We're going to do this the </span>
  <em>
    <span>right way.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Let's go home.” He added with a warning finger-wagging in Neal’s direction. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Neal smiled from ear to ear, “oh you do love to spoil me, Peter!” He said nudging the Agent with an elbow on his way out and gaining a harsh glare from the older man. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>----</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> That night Neal was at the table in his room sitting across from Mozzie leaning on his sofa elbows propped up behind him. In front of him sat a short balding man with glasses, wearing a gray button-up that was open in the front with a dark blue shirt underneath and a light blue scarf that was discarded on the table. Mozzie passed some papers over to his friend, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Apparently Mr. Bostier didn’t acquire this Apple in exactly… law-abiding ways.” He explained.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Before Mozzie could speak Neal spoke for him “Steal a little and they'll put you in jail, steal a lot and they'll make you king.” He said with a crooked smile. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The balding man huffed looking annoyed. “That’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> line,” he stated but the anger was only playful at most. They often had small banters like this, he pushed some photos towards Neal. Depicting a young tanned man in his early twenties wearing a white hood and black jeans. “This is Desmond Miles… and his body was found in Italy in some ancient ruins that collapsed only hours after they removed his body and this… Apple of Eden from the ruins. Looks like he died from a heart attack. Young too. Interestingly enough the people who took his body? Wasn’t the police, not the FBI, not the government. A company called <em>Abstergo, </em>want to know what they do?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Neal pulled the photo close and narrowed his eyes, “what?” He asked not looking up, what was so special about this guy? He looked young and didn’t look like he was rich by any means. How did he get his hands on this Apple of Eden and why? There were so many unfilled gaps and this mystery only seemed to deepen more and more. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “They make entertainment and medical technologies. Its a technology company, why are they stealing ancient </span>
  <em>
    <span>art?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Mozzie asked, “Not to mention they have been sending money to a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span> of sketchy places...” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Neal hummed, frowning “it's not unusual for big corporations to be doing sketchy business deals. But what they wanted with this guy and his Apple is a good question. What I want to know is how Mr. Bostier got a hold of it...” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “I don’t know Neal I think you're not seeing the bigger picture here, there’s more to this. A conspiracy even! It's more than just how some rich guy got a hold of this thing...” Mozzie explained pushing more papers at Neal this time documents. “Look, this guy Desmond Miles? There’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing</span>
  </em>
  <span> on him the last thing I have on him is he worked at a bar in New York City as a bartender. No parents, no family, no siblings, nothing before the age of 16. It's like before he was 16 he simply <em><strong>didn’t exist</strong></em>.” The older man threw his hands up into the air in exasperation, “don’t you think that’s a <em>little odd</em>?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> The Ex-Criminal sighed rubbing the spot between his eyes, leaning back as he scanned the document Mozzie had … obtained. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “It is I agree… this whole thing is fishy, this Desmond, Abstergo, Bostier, you think they could all be in it together? All of them seem to be hiding something. But to have the skill to hide like that… requires… resources.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Resources people like us would have,” Mozzie replied cooly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “But… all of them? In on the same thing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “… or trying to steal it from each other.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Is this Apple really worth that much?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Mozzie shrugged at that, “I’ll pull some strings and keep looking into it. In the meantime, you better get to making your own Apple from the sounds of it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Neal nodded the sly smirk returning to his face, “it’ll be a perfect copy you just wait.”<br/>
</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter two we will get to meet some of the Assassin's! Don't worry we will get to see more of our thief soon in Chapter three so this won't be the last of him. ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Two: Fire and Flame Are I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We meet a young Assassin called Aiden and some of his friends, along with it, we get a inside look into the Assassin's and what it is that they are after...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is more of a transitional chapter, I needed to introduce some characters before the next chapter where we will have some real action :D. So apologies there isn't a lot of action here, but there will be plenty to make up for that next chapter! I tried to make things easy to understand but if y'all think I could clarify anything more let me know. </p>
<p>Oh also I decided to throw the Assassin's Creed Timeline out the window and include Evie and Jacob because I needed a stronk woman to counter balance Aiden a bit. And you can't have Evie without Jacob sooo.... yep. xD I had a lot of fun writing their interactions though heheh.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>
    <span>The large room was cast in darkness with only the soft flickering of lights hanging down from the high ceiling beams being the only source of light. The red hood was pulled upcasting dark shadows over a soft pale face. Sounds of fighting could be heard in the dim lighting. Sweat was forming on his forehead and slipping down his cheeks and face, red eyes bright in determination as fists came at his face once again. Duck, block, uppercut side-step, turn, sidekick- </span>
  </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit she grabbed my foot</span>
  </em>
  <span>
    <span>. Twist, pain shot up his hip and spine as he rolled with the twist, flipping mid-air and landing on his back. His hood came up from the movement revealing his frowning face. Suddenly she launched at him fist up, he rolled to his left with a quick push of his hand and knee he was on his feet again. Agile as ever, as he sent a flurry of punches at his opponent until she was the one on the defensive. He was fast and agile, but she was faster and more agile more flexible. He could hit harder but he couldn’t keep up with her easily. </span>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> When she grabbed his punch and pulled him in he knew he was in trouble. She even gave him a sinister little smile before her other arm came around. He tried to grab for it but missed, her arm locked around his neck as her leg shot out and hooked the back of his knee. She twisted and </span>
  <em>
    <span>threw</span>
  </em>
  <span> him down onto the ground with a loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>SMACK!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Pain blooming into his shoulder as he connected to the hard metal floor. He was well trained and pulled his arms up to cover the back of his head so he didn’t get a concussion. His opponent in a flurry of black hair was suddenly on his chest, “I concede I concede!” He said quickly before she could decide to beat up his face too. A chuckle escaped his opponent as she sat atop his chest comfortably. A sigh escaped his lips as he rubbed his sweat covered face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Evie…. Get off.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Aww afraid of me messing up that pretty face of yours Aiden?” She teased.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> She rose and offered her hand to help him up, “Aiden, nice fight. You still lost though, maybe next time.” That sweet smile was hiding a well trained Master Assassin, he felt satisfied that her braid would need re-doing though. Long black hair frazzled and coming undone all around her. Hands wrapped up in bandages, bright hazel eyes, and freckles littering her cheeks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Ha yeah right, next time, </span>
  <em>
    <span>in my dreams</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Aiden replied, grabbing her hand to pull himself up with a quiet sigh running a hand through his red ginger hair. He was a mess himself, the sides of his head were shaved down leaving a fluffy stripe down the middle that hung down over his face and was long enough in the back to need a ponytail or braid at times. And no one wanted to question why all his teeth looked so sharp or nails look long and claw-like. Nope. Not gonna ask. Aiden was a bit on the strange side. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Before the British accented woman could reply there was clapping from behind them, both turned to see Jacob Frye, the twin of Evie. They had similar looks despite the obvious gender difference, Jacob’s hair was a bit longer than Aiden’s slick back with a few rebel strands. Hazel eyes, and a wide smirking grin to match his personality. “Excellent show as always you two, now our friend here has a mission debriefing to get too. Room B10, best get to it! Drinks on me tonight?” He offered motioning with his hands in a ‘well?’ motion stands open and friendly, charming as ever. Aiden rolled his eyes folding his arms over his chest and leaning back on his heels. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “And they sent you to tell me this instead of sending me a message on my phone like everyone else?” He inquired of the British man with a raised eyebrow. Evie tossed him a hand towel that he used to wipe his face down offering a quiet “thanks” to the fellow Assassin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Well, I was coming down to challenge my sister to a sparring session so I figured I could pass the message on.” The male twin explained with a growing devious grin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “You just wanted to see me lose!” Aiden accused, though there was a little bite in his voice. Even though he waved an accusing finger at the taller man. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Oh please, me? Watch you get your ass kicked by my sister? I would </span>
  <em>
    <span>never!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Jacob said slapping a hand to his chest even as he laughed unable to keep a straight face. “Okay you got me shorty, it was quite entertaining to watch.” He admitted with a chuckle, “I wish you could stay and watch a </span>
  <em>
    <span>pro</span>
  </em>
  <span> but alas your needed elsewhere.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Shaking his head Aiden’s French accent filtered his words “Before drinks tonight, you and me, got it Mr. ‘Pro’” Aiden challenged him standing right up to the taller man with a challenging stare, red eyes bright. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Jacob’s grin turned even bigger, and he leaned down “Deal but your still a shorty.” He said in a quiet voice their noses almost touched, Aiden snorted glaring.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Are you two going to kiss now?” Evie teased playfully.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Aiden then punched him right in the gut gaining a grunt out of him and pushing Jacob back a few inches. “In his dreams maybe! Still gonna kick your ass, Frye!” He called as he ran out waving back at Evie, “good spar Evie!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Hey get back here you little shit-!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Let it go Brother you have all night to get back at him. But if I remember correctly you and I have a spar to do...” The voices faded behind him as Aiden made his way down the corridor. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Aiden thought back to what brought him to this place in life, feeling grateful for friends like Evie and Jacob in his life. Life was good up until the day his father died at the hands of a Templar, and Aiden learned he was part of a long line of Assassins who knew? Not Him! His Father had been discretely teaching him over the years, under the guise of ‘you should learn self-defense’. Aiden had never questioned why ‘self-defense’ included learning how to kill someone without being noticed. All those lessons in climbing, fighting, martial arts, all that time at the gun range? Wasn’t just for self-defense. He had always assumed his Father was just paranoid, apparently not, considering how he died with a knife stuck in his back, perhaps the paranoia was justified. But Aiden had been as confused as ever, Templar's? Didn’t they die off in like AD 1500 or something? Assassins? </span>
  <em>
    <span>What was the meaning of all this? </span>
  </em>
  <span>He still didn’t fully understand what the Templar's wanted, but whatever they wanted it wasn’t for the good of humankind. They wanted control and were willing to kill, steal, and abuse the innocent to get it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> The Assassin’s had to stop them, they couldn’t let the Templar gain more power than they already had. Many politicians and people in power were Templar. They had taken a more political approach over the years, and as society changed – the Assassin's got left behind. Stuck in the shadows of the law running and hiding, they didn’t take to a political approach and now found themselves in the minority and losing more and more ground every day to the Templar's. The sparring wasn’t just for fun and games, they had to stay on their toes if they were going to win ground back. Aiden was half Irish and half French but grew up in France. He never knew his mother since she grew sick and died not long after his birth but he was mostly raised by his Uncle, Louis since his father was often away on business which Aiden later learned was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Assassin Business</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Despite being half french and having the pale skin to match, he looked more Irish in eye and hair color though red was a very unusual eye color his father had it as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Currently, he was unwrapping the wraps around his hands and stuffing them into his pockets. Rubbing the bruise that was likely forming on his shoulder from where Evie had thrown him. The young man wore a loose purple hoodie with long black cargo pants and sneakers to match. Casual, as he hadn’t planned on doing anything other than training today. He walked down the small compound they had stationed in Italy in the far reaches of society where they couldn’t easily be found. The building was old and assumed abandoned by most who spotted it from the outside. Old green vines, run-down look, rusted metal, and paint. It was a perfect place for a group of Assassins to hide undetected. But it was also old, and that meant; no elevator. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p><span> A long walk up the stairs and the Irish Frenchman finally arrived at B10, swinging the door open to reveal two of their other agents. He was only slightly out of breath as he reached the debriefing room. Rebecca and Shaun, sitting across a long table with computer monitors on the far wall, a single light hung on the room but it was quite bright and the windows cast in a soft yellow glow of light from outside. Rebecca with her short dark brown hair, typing away at one of the many computers on the far wall, didn’t even look up as he came in. Whereas Shaun, yet another British lad among their ranks turned in his wheelie chair to face Aiden throwing his hands up in a ‘welcome’ motion. </span><br/><br/>“Ah you finally made it, I was worried those stairs had finally defeated you. I do hope your not out of shape yet Agent.” The higher ranking Assassin replied, though Shaun and Rebbeca mostly worked in hacking and research and rarely went on the field. But even they had gone out in the field more since the death of Desmond Miles…. That was a whole different story for later though. The man spoke with a straight face, perfectly stoic, but being sarcastic. </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Aiden shook his head, “I can beat you up those stairs any day Shaun, what do you guys need?” He pulled out a chair from the table and plopped down onto it. Pulling his hood down and leaning his elbows on the table. It was only then, that Rebecca acknowledged his existence, turning around and pushing a tablet across the table at the Frenchman. “Look at these,” that he did, picking it up and flipping through photos of a – museum? A nice one too, huh. “Okay? So what? What’s so...” he cut himself off stopping at the sight of The Apple of Eden sitting in one of the stands inside the Museum. Aiden dropped the tablet onto the table as if he had been zapped. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Rebecca snorted, “yeah that was Shaun’s reaction too. Right there, out in the open public is an Apple of Eden. But you know if </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> could find it then the Templars can too…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Is this Desmond’s…?” Aiden didn’t finish that thought, his voice lowering at the mention of the dead Master Assassin. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Nope, a different one, I don’t recognize where this one is from but it has all the signs of being an Apple of Eden...” Shaun explained, shrugging. “I looked up the owner of the Museum, he purchased it from an archeological team, it all matches up. But an Apple out in the open like this will be snatched if we don’t get to it first. Its located in New York City, you leave in two hours.” The Brit explained, “keep the tablet study up on the flight and destroy it when you arrive.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Aww and I lose so many good tablets this way!” Aiden said playfully, despite the seriousness of the situation. An Apple of Eden could change the tide, they had very… strange abilities, and if the Templar's got a hold of it, who knew what they would do with it. They </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> let that happen. The Assassin’s had lost so much already, they had to win this time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Aiden tightens his grip on the tablet, “anything else I should know?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “We’re sending Evie with you as back up, but you will do the extraction of the Apple. I can’t express how important this is Mr. O’Conner so don’t mess it up please.” Shaun said, with a firm expression to match his tone of voice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> The Frenchman rolled his eyes, waving a hand “yeah yeah I got it, I’ll let her know I guess Jacob and I will have to wait on those drinks.” He said pushing up from his seat, table tucked under an arm. A quick salute to the other two Assassins, “I won’t let you down” with that he turned and left. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Some hours later. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Aiden sighed slouching into the small airplane seat where Evie made it even smaller by leaning over the armrest and taking up his personal space. “So you’ve never been to America?” She asked curiously, stealing one of the peanuts out of the tiny snack he got. He shot up suddenly, “Hey!” she popped it into her mouth with a smug smile. “It's small enough without a </span>
  <em>
    <span>voleuse</span>
  </em>
  <span> stealing my snacks!” He accused her, calling her a ‘thief’ which was far from an insult considering their life occupations. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Evie shrugged, “Hey if you didn’t want me to take any you should have brought some for me too.” She replied but soon turned more serious, the playful moments with Evie were far and few between. Unlike her brother, she took finding the Artifacts from “Those Who Came Before” very seriously. Whereas Jacob, her twin brother thought it was all a fairy tale and thought risking their lives to collect some age-old dusty ball was stupid at best. Sometimes he wondered if Jacob was right… however, it was nice to share a few playful moments with Evie even rare as they were.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “How do you plan to get inside?” the British Woman asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aiden glanced around “this isn’t the place to talk about it, here I wrote my plan out on here.” He slides the tablet over to her, she scrolled through it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Hmm smart, but why do it in broad daylight? I’d wait until night time” she questioned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> He shook his head “if I turn on the fire alarm the place will empty fast, plus, there are at least three times more security at night, this will be easier. And I have you as a backup anyway, I’m sure we’re fine.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> Evie scoffed, “your as reckless as Jacob if you think this is a well thought out plan.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  
  <em>
    <span>Ouch, that kinda stung</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he visibly flinched “well what’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> suggestion then oh fellow Assassin? You liked it a minute ago!” He asked frowning, his playful mood ruined and now he was most definitely pouting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “That was before I realized you were going to do it in broad daylight,” she said, eyes glued to the tablet as she tapped away for a few minutes. “How about this, do it at dawn an hour before the Security shift, right before they double up the security. Then, it's darker so you have more cover </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> fewer civilians who can be witnesses to our little snitching effort.” She suggested pushing the Tablet back at him, Aiden hummed and nodded. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Perfect,” he agreed. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> “Great then you can buy me some peanuts,” Evie countered gaining a laugh out of Aiden. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> “Your very sly Miss Evie, very sly and very clever indeed.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> “Certain more then Jacob, he is about as subtle as a bull in a china shop.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> “That I can agree with.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Oh did I fail to mention we will go in under the disguise as a couple?” She added a minute later. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “…. Miss Evie, I would rather not test the level of your husband's patience, I know he’s… a pacifist of a sort but that could always change.” Aiden replied, worriedly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Don’t worry if you try anything I won’t leave anything left of you for him to be mad at.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Oh lovely, thank you, Evie, that makes me feel a lot better about your plan.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Splendid!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>There he stood in front of the museum, wearing black slacks with a purple dress shirt, and a black vest, a nice purple tie, hair loose but combed back out of his face. On his arm was Evie, looking as beautiful as ever in a sleek black dress, hair braided and a light vest over top. The dress had many layers to surely hide the many weapons she was concealing. Aiden was quite a bit shorter than the woman but he had an air of confidence anyway. They walked arm in the arm inside the newly opened museum, bright flashing light lit the pathway the setting sun casting it in an orange glow. Once inside Aiden pretended to be enthralled by a beautiful painting, while Evie made conversation with the guide. She would mostly be keeping people distracted and off of Aiden’s back while he stole the Apple if all went to plan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> As Aiden made his way slowly inside, making note of all the guard and camera positions, someone else bumped into him. “Sorry!” The man said, picking up the papers he had dropped on the floor, the Frenchman leaned down to help him and when they stood up he found himself face to face with a curly-haired young man with a charming smile and something more mischievous reflected in his eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span> “My apologies sir, I should have been looking where I’m going- oh! Where are my manners? I’m Neal, its nice to meet you.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>………</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
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